'The Pursuit of Happyness' is a dark crowd-pleaser.

The Pursuit of Happyness made with a premise of an ‘American Dream' turns out to be much rawer and depressing than one could expect. What seemed to be a feel-good movie, was in fact sometimes a tough watch of a journey of dreams and struggles.

The biographic tells a story of an entrepreneur, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) who was homeless for nearly one-year, while also taking custody of his five-year-old son (Jayden Smith). He eventually made millions of dollars.

A sentimental and clever manipulation on the emotions of the viewers could be the movie's slogan. Watching a movie like this makes it hard not to root for its main characters, who instead of getting better constantly have new struggles to deal with. Many story choices are heartbreaking and hard to watch, especially when the main character and his little son are homeless, so on the level of watcher's connection to the story and characters, The Pursuit of Happyness works perfectly.

The whole movie is carried on Will Smith's shoulders who gives one of the best performances of his career, he perfectly understands Chris's motivations and makes some crafty choices. The scenes in which he acts with his eyes trying to hold it together are brilliant, it is easy to understand why he was nominated for an Oscar. Will and his real-life son, Jayden make a brilliant and magnificent father-son on-screen relationship. Little Jayden (who was 8 years old at the time of films release) is impossibly adorable, he never managed to top this performance. There's also Thandie Newton who tried best she could with what she had to do with her small and underwritten character.

This particular movie can be called Smith's "Blind Side moment" – it was a massive financial success, solidifying Smith not only as one of the biggest Hollywood stars but also as a good actor, something that many people tend to forget. Similarly, to The Blind Side, The Pursuit of Happyness is simply not a very good movie, but it is not a bad movie either. – it's just uneven. In its stronger dramatic moments, it's good, but in weaker ones, it's just too bland and it could explore much rougher situations that real-life Chris was for sure facing. However, it does its job as this huge a crowd-pleaser. Ultimately, well, the verdict is that it's a decent movie that is worth a watch.

A lot of negative aspects can be strictly blamed on the technical side of the project, which is simply unmemorable and barely noticeable. Cinematography, the usage of music, editing or production design are all so average that will be barely noticed by the viewers. Writing, on the other hand, sometimes is way too cliché and some lines are too predictable.

Overall, The Pursuit of Happyness is a perfectly watchable film with an outstanding performance from a megastar Will Smith. It is a perfect choice for connoisseurs of melodramas and tear-jerkers. It's an emotional and absorbing piece of cinema, which works in its unpretentious way by delivering an enjoyable crowd-pleasing story that is often darker than expected.

3/5

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